Welding wire feeder systems are commonly integrated with or used in conjunction with an arc welder to feed a wire electrode to a workpiece. The electrode may be a solid wire electrode, a coated electrode, or a cored electrode. Typically, the wire feeder is used in conjunction with a MIG or TIG arc welding process. Presently, there are just a few principal manufacturers of welding equipment. These manufacturers include The Lincoln Electric Company, Miller Electric, and ESAB. Each of these manufacturers construct welding accessories such as wire feeders, welding guns, etc. that are designed to be used with a specific brand of welding machine. With respect to wire feeders, it is common for one manufacturer to design and build a wire feeder which operates on a different voltage than another manufacturer. As a result, welding accessories from various manufacturers are typically not intermixed with different brands of welders.
Due to the incompatibility of a wire feeder for an arc welder from one manufacturer on an arc welder from another manufacturer, it becomes difficult or impossible for an operator to switch the wire feeder of one manufacturer to another arc welder by a different manufacturer when a particular arc welder malfunctions or requires service. It is common at a particular welding site to have several different brands of arc welders. In a situation where one brand of arc welder is out of service, an operator typically cannot use another type of arc welder to continue the welding operation unless the arc welder is of the same brand as the one that was removed from service. As a result, costly downtime occurs when an arc welder is suddenly taken out of service during a welding operation. One way to address this problem is to have backup welders and wire feeders on hand to minimize downtime. However, welding units and wire feeders are costly and a burden to store and transport. As a result, spare welding units and wire feeders are typically not taken to a welding site. Some users have, in the past, used a transformer to connect one brand of wire feeder to another brand of welder. The transformer is used to ramp up or ramp down the voltage and/or current from a particular brand of arc welder so that a different brand of wire feeder can be used with the arc welder. The transformer is typically connected to the power cable that connects the wire feeder to the arc welder. The transformer is commonly connected to the power cable by cutting the power cable and then electrically connecting the transformer in series with the power cable. The connecting of the transformer to the power cable has caused problems such as when the transformer is not properly connected to the power cable thereby causing damage to the wire feeder and/or arc welder, and/or an improper transformer is connected to the power cable thereby making the wire feeder inoperative and/or damaging the wire feeder and/or welder. Furthermore, the use of a particular transformer only enables a user to connect one brand of wire feeder to a specific brand of arc welder of another brand, thus still limiting the compatibility of the wire feeder to be used with a variety of different arc welders.
In view of the present state of the art of wire feeders, there is a need for a wire feeder that can be simply connected to a plurality of different arc welders without having to connect a transformer to the power cable of the wire feeder or significantly modifying the electronics and/or components of the wire feeder.